List of keyboard shortcuts for QuickTime Player on Mac

You might use QuickTime Player on your Mac to watch movies, edit videos, or record your screen. And for the various tasks you can perform in this handy tool comes a bunch of keyboard shortcuts.

For managing the app window, movie viewing and playback, and editing videos, here are the keyboard shortcuts for QuickTime Player on Mac you can use.

MacBook keyboard movie media- QuickTime Player keyboard shortcuts

The QuickTime Player window

Take control of the QuickTime Player window without lifting a finger using these shortcuts:

  • Create a new movie recording: Option + Command + N
  • Create a new audio recording: Control + Option + Command + N
  • Create a new screen recording: Control + Command + N
  • Open a file: Command + O (capital letter “O” and not zero)
  • Open a URL: Command + L
  • Show the movie inspector: Command + I (capital letter “i”)
  • Minimize the window: Command + M
  • Close the window: Command + W

Keyboard shortcuts for viewing

Change the view to full-screen mode, panoramic mode, or fit your video to the screen with these keyboard shortcuts:

  • Enter or exit full-screen mode: Command + F
  • Show the movie in its actual size: Command + 1
  • Fit the movie to the screen: Command + 3
  • Fit the screen with the movie: Command + 4
  • Show the movie in panoramic mode: Command + 5
  • Increase the movie size: Command + Plus sign (+)
  • Decrease the movie size: Command + Hyphen (-)

Keyboard shortcuts for playback

When you’re watching a movie or video, you can control the volume, pause, or go back with these shortcuts:

  • Play or pause the current movie: Space Bar
  • Play or pause all movies: Command + Return
  • Go to the start: Option + Left Arrow
  • Go to the end: Option + Right Arrow
  • Stop and go back a frame: Left Arrow
  • Stop and go forward a frame: Right Arrow
  • Cycle through rewind speeds: Command + Left Arrow
  • Cycle through forward speeds: Command + Right Arrow
  • Increase the volume: Up Arrow
  • Increase to the maximum volume: Option + Up Arrow
  • Decrease the volume: Down Arrow
  • Decrease to the minimum volume: Option + Down Arrow
  • Loop the movie: Option + Command + L

Gesture shortcuts for playback

Along with keyboard shortcuts during playback, you can use these gestures:

  • Fast forward or rewind: With a Force Touch trackpad, increase or decrease the pressure
  • Skip forward: Swipe with two fingers up or right
  • Skip backward: Swipe with two fingers down or left
  • Scrub forward: While paused, swipe with two fingers up or right
  • Scrub backward: While paused, swipe with two fingers down or left
  • Increase the volume: Over volume control, swipe with two fingers up or right
  • Decrease the volume: Over volume control, swipe with two fingers down or left

Keyboard shortcuts for editing

If you use QuickTime to edit movies and videos, remember these handy shortcuts next time:

  • Select all: Command + A
  • Cut: Command + X
  • Copy: Command + C
  • Paste: Command + V
  • Rotate left: Shift + Command + L
  • Rotate right: Shift + Command + R
  • Flip horizontally: Shift + Command + H
  • Flip vertically: Shift + Command + V
  • Split the clip: Command + Y
  • Trim the clip: Command + T
  • Undo: Command + Z
  • Redo: Shift + Command + Z

When you open QuickTime Player on your Mac to watch or edit a movie or video, try to remember some of these handy keyboard shortcuts for the actions you’ll use most.

And for more, head to our keyboard shortcuts section or visit our QuickTime section for additional help with the app.

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